Postgame Quotes - November 26, 2012

Pistons vs Trail Blazers

(On Kyle Singler): “Kyle, I thought was outstanding, playing a very, very complete game. Defensively, he was very, very solid; ran the floor extremely well, passed the ball well, rebounding. It was a very complete game. Final stat line of 16 (points), 10 (rebounds) and five (assists), that’s very good.”

(On Brandon Knight): “I thought he was very, very good. First, the job he did defensively. (Damian) Lillard is their leading scorer and I thought Brandon did a very good job with the matchup of making everything very, very hard. That first half he really controlled it for us. Unfortunately, he got that fourth foul, but I thought Brandon had a tremendous floor game.”

(On ball movement): "We had four possessions that resulted in a score where all five guys touched the ball and to have seven guys in double figures and to have a bunch of guys with multiple assists, that’s great. The way I look at is, they shot 42%, but had 17 offensive rebounds, so our first shot defense was good. Obviously we have to be better to limiting them to one shot, but the ball movement, the sharing, that was contagious.”

(On being happier with defense or offense): "Definitely defense. We were playing against one of the better rookies in the NBA, Damian Lillard, who has been playing very well. Even though LaMarcus (Aldridge) scored high tonight, he had to work for everything he got."

(On the first step to get their heads back above water): "Definitely always want to take care of home court. I think it's key that when teams come here they have to know that they are going to be here for a fight, and they are going to have to play close to a perfect game to get out of here with a win."

(On Pistons' ball movement): "The guys are definitely sharing the basketball. There was a possession where every guy on our team touched the basketball. The ball went from side to side and then in to Greg (Monroe) for a dunk. It goes to show that our team is very unselfish."

(On playing two games in a row): “Absolutely, I felt like the first game I was a little rusty. This game I felt more comfortable out there and guys made the right plays and put me in a position where I could be successful.”

(On home games): “We have a couple more home games coming up and we have to take advantage of that.”

(On playing together with Rodney Stuckey): “I think it fits well because of what Rodney brings to the team as far as driving and all that he commands. Then you have me on the pick-and-pop. I think it’s good. We need to keep building on that.”

(On defense): “It was poor. Brandon Knight did a nice job with the pick and rolls, got to the rim, and made his threes. Kyle Singler got his open looks. Greg Monroe got to the basket so we did not take much away from the things they do.”

(On points in the paint): “That is going to happen. We are not a paint-scoring team. LA (LaMarcus Aldridge) will get there and we will get some offensive rebounds, but our primary scorers, Damian (Lillard), Wes (Wesley Matthews), and Nick (Nicholas Batum) are not in the paint scorers. I do not necessarily expect to win the points in the paint.”

(On Detroit’s offense): “That is what Detroit does well. They made their threes and they are not necessarily a three-point shooting team. They made their threes and they converted on some second chance points but we outscored them on second-chance points.”

(On game): “We let them play their game. They shot over 50 percent. Anytime you let a team shoot over 50 percent we do not have a chance to win the game, especially on the road. We have to play better defense.”

(On playing back-to-back games): “They played a back-to-back as well but their team wanted it more. They wanted it more than us tonight. We did not battle so we lost the game.”

(On personal performance): “I only took six or seven shots. I did not get the touches I used to have these past two games so I have to work on that.”